How Do You Solve World Problems? You Develop People Who Solve Problems. Let’s Invest $100 Million to Complete a 5-Year Nationwide Implementation of Evidence-Based Social and Emotional Learning Strategies, Preschool to High School, in 150 Collaborating School Districts, Representing 20% of American Public School Students To Improve Academic, Social and Emotional Outcomes For America & Beyond.

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What’s the Context?

In a recent 2016 survey by Phi Delta Kappa, a professional educators’ association, fewer than half of Americans (45%) view the main goal of public education as simply preparing students academically. The others believe education should prepare students for work (25%) and prepare children to be good citizens (26%). Research indicates that Social and Emotional Learning is the missing link that ties all of these objectives together.

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Why SEL? Why Now?

  • IT’S A SIMPLE FACT: Long-term studies corroborate what we intuitively know to be true – 13-19 years later, children with prosocial skills early in life attain higher levels of success in school and life: higher levels of education, more likely to be employed and less likely to be involved with criminal activity or arrested later in life. 2
  • IT'S GOT BROAD SUPPORT ALREADY: An overwhelming 97% of American public school teachers believe SEL can be taught and will benefit students of all ages, rich or poor. 3
  • THE DEMAND IS MOBILIZED NOW: 150 school districts representing 6.6 million (approximately 20%) of American public school students nationwide want to engage with CASEL to implement SEL as soon as possible. This requires additional capital to deploy.
  • WE HAVE BULLETPROOF EVIDENCE: Over 20 years of academically rigorous research conclusively proves SEL works in the short and long term. 4
  • IT’S PROGRAMMATICALLY DOABLE & COST EFFECTIVE: There’s an $11 economic return for every $1 invested in SEL. 5
  • AND WE’VE DONE IT BEFORE: CASEL has been working with 8 innovator districts representing 1 million students over the past five years to implement quality evidence based, systemic SEL. Independent evaluations prove it’s working. With the lessons learned from these pilots, we’ve developed a replicable Theory of Action to implement systemic, high quality evidence-based SEL with 10 key district milestones and 6 key school SEL milestones to ensure success. Additionally, CASEL’s in-depth financial sustainability models, based on case studies from existing district models, is an online resource that helps new districts plan for and prepare informed budgets for implementing SEL based on their own unique district characteristics. 6

What Are the Direct Benefits of SEL?

When high quality, systemic evidence-based Social and Emotional strategies are implemented in schools, children, teachers, administrators and the entire school community and beyond benefits.

  • Higher scores on academic achievement tests.
  • Reduced problem behavior and reduced suspensions.
  • Improved school climate and supportive instruction.
  • Improved school attendance.
  • Improved social and emotional competence.
  • Improved graduation rates.
  • Improved GPA.
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What are the Risks?

  • QUALITY: Demand for SEL is greater than it has ever been and it will continue to increase over the next decade but it must be scaled with quality to maximize it's widespread benefits. Mitigation: CASEL has tools and resources based on decades of work that are ready to be disseminated and a plan for extending SEL Communities of Practice to support quality, communicative-planning for SEL implementation, at all levels, but with a concentration at the collaborating state and school district levels. We will also continue working with our extensive partnership network, including the National Commission on Social, Emotional and Academic Development and several other strategic partnerships, to meet demand.
  • BUDGET CUTS & TURNOVER: While districts and schools are often excited about introducing SEL, the quality of implementation can suffer when presented with leadership turnover and budget cuts. Mitigation: We've found through our our 8-district pilot effort (the Collaborating Districts Initiative) that through the vehicle of ongoing support in SEL Communities of Practice, implementation quality can improve over time, even when faced with these challenges.
  • ORGANIZATIONAL GROWTH: This endeavor is a bold step for CASEL because we are significantly increasing our outreach and that growth requires a ramp up of staff and consultants, and a plan for sustaining efforts once this funding period ends. Mitigation: Through a five-year internally-sourced funding plan, continuous improvement and reporting processes, and key leadership staffing, we will mitigate these risks.
Sources
  1. Phi Delta Kappan. (2016). Why School? The 48th Annual PDK Poll of the Public’s Attitude Toward the Public Schools. PDK International. Retrieved.
  2. Damon E. Jones, Mark Greenberg, and Max Crowley. Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness. American Journal of Public Health: November 2015, Vol. 105, No. 11, pp. 2283-2290.
  3. Civic Enterprises., Bridgeland, J., Bruce, M., & Hariharan, (2013). The Missing Piece: A National Teacher Survey on How Social and Emotional Learning Can Empower Children and Transform Schools. Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. Chicago: Author.
  4. Bear, G.G., Whitcomb, S.A., Elias, M.J., & Blank, J.C. (2015). "SEL and Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports." In J.A. Durlak, C.E. Domitrovich, R.P. Weissberg, & T.P. Gullotta (Eds.), Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning. New York: Guilford Press.
  5. Belfied, C., Bowden, B., Klapp, A., Levin, H., Shand, R., & Zander, S. (2015). The Economic Value of Social and Emotional Learning. New York: Center for Benefit-Cost Studies in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.
  6. CASEL Financial Sustainability - Planning for Financial Sustainability. (2015) Retrieved September 28, 2016, from http://financialsustainability.casel.org/.
  7. 5 Belfied, C., Bowden, B., Klapp, A., Levin, H., Shand, R., & Zander, S. (2015). The Economic Value of Social and Emotional Learning. New York: Center for Benefit-Cost Studies in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.
  8. Durlak, J., Weissberg, R., Dymnicki A., Taylor, R., Shellinger, K. (2011). The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School Based Universal Interventions. Child Development, January/February 2011, Volume 82, Number 1, Pages 405-432.
  9. Damon E. Jones, Mark Greenberg, and Max Crowley. Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness. American Journal of Public Health: November 2015, Vol. 105, No. 11, pp. 2283-2290.
  10. Damon E. Jones, Mark Greenberg, and Max Crowley. Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness. American Journal of Public Health: November 2015, Vol. 105, No. 11, pp. 2283-2290.
  11. Osher, David, Kendziora, K., (2016) CASEL/NoVo Collaborating Districts Initiative: 2015 Cross-District Outcome Evaluation Report Executive Summary. Washington, D.C.: American Institutes for Research.
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